Saturday, May 7, 2011

HYDEN BLOG: Nick Diaz vs. Georges St. Pierre and the UFC 129 scene

By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

I've said recently that I believed that if Georges St. Pierre were to beat Jake Shields that Nick Diaz should be next in line. There's a variety of reasons for that, and I still think they're all valid.

1) - This would be the biggest fight of Nick's career. Diaz has talked recently of making a possible move to boxing and wondering if MMA is for him. This is all posturing from Diaz as he wants more money. I can't blame him there, as who doesn't want more money? A fight against GSP would be the biggest payday of Nick's career.

2) - St. Pierre has cleaned out the UFC's welterweight division. Who else would they put him up against? There's no one that's head and shoulders above anyone else, and he's defeated everyone that would even be in consideration.

3) - There would be a good chance of a GSP vs. Diaz fight being an exciting one. With Diaz being as deserving of a title shot as anyone else, that's an added bonus.

4) - GSP needs a fresh matchup. Just about any other fight at welterweight would be a rematch for GSP. Rematches aren't a bad thing, except in cases where you clearly won all five rounds against your opponent. An immediate rematch against Jake Shields doesn't make sense, even though he's the only guy to have won a round against GSP in years.

I personally don't think that Nick Diaz would do much better against GSP than anyone else has in recent times. Diaz is a really good fighter, but GSP is on a different level. Even with his mediocre performance against Shields at UFC 129, GSP was still above everyone else. I'm not as confident that GSP would roll up Diaz as I was before Saturday, but I would still bet on GSP sweeping all five rounds before I would bet on Diaz beating GSP.

I think the fight is an inevitability as this point, it just makes too much sense. Sometimes in life, things that make too much sense don't happen, though. However, in this case, I think the UFC does the smart thing and makes the fight happen.

*************

The scene for UFC 129 was incredible. Over 55,000 people screaming like maniacs was surely a surreal feeling for the fighters there. The UFC should do everything they can to replicate that scene as often as they can. Obviously, they can't have every card in an arena that size, but even if it's only once a year, they should go for it. If Brock Lesnar is able to work his way back into the title picture, his title shot should be in a large arena. If Anderson Silva ever fights Jon Jones, that should be in a large arena.

When the UFC travels overseas, they should try to book the largest arena they can. The spectacle at UFC 129 should be on display as much as possible. The wide shots of all the fans packed in to the arena is something special, and shows the continued growth of MMA. It just looks really cool.